Shadow Born Legacy

Chapter 4: The Crimson Rebirth

The city burned.

Flames licked at the heavens, casting long, writhing shadows against the bloodstained walls. The scent of charred flesh mingled with the iron tang of spilled blood, thick in the air like a funeral shroud.

The cobbled streets, once alive with merchants and beggars, were now rivers of gore, bodies piled in grotesque towers, their limbs bent at unnatural angles. The massacre had only just begun.

Kael was at the center of the mayhem, breathing slow and calculated. His fingers throbbed from the insistent grip of his twin daggers, edges dulled from the endless bloodshed.

The clothes were sopping wet in crimson, telling him of lives lost. There was no option but to counterattack. Shadowborne wanted him dead, and he would not die quietly.

The guards who had invaded the city gates hesitated, and their once hardened resolve wavered in the face of what was before them. There was no possible way a man could have achieved such carnage.

But Kael was not an ordinary man; he had been trained under the best assassins, groomed by discipline for years, and driven by his need to live.

One of the guards, a captain clad in thick chainmail, swallowed hard and took a step forward, sword raised. His voice trembled, but he called out nonetheless.

"Kael Shadowborne! Surrender now, and your death will be swift!"

Kael tilted his head, his expression unreadable. Then, in the blink of an eye, he was gone.

The captain barely had time to react before Kael materialized behind him, blade flashing. A single, clean strike. The captain let out a strangled gasp as Kael's dagger slit his throat.

His hands flew up instinctively, trying to hold in the life spilling from him, but it was futile. He fell to his knees, then collapsed, eyes glassy.

The remaining guards turned to flee.

Kael waited, breathing slowly, relishing their fear. He raised his hand then, and without second thought, hurled the throwing knife at one guard, hitting him straight in the back of the skull and sending him sprawling face-first onto the cobblestone.

Another guard fell over his mate, scrambling back to his feet, but Kael was on him next. A swipe across the femoral artery sent him into a gurgling, gasping heap.

Blood rained from the heavens.

Kael's heart beat steadily, his mind cold and calculating. Every move was precise, every strike designed for efficiency. This was not madness. This was control.

The difference between him and the rest of the Shadowborne was that he chose when to kill.

They were killed because they were ordered to.

And then, amidst the carnage, something stirred.

A presence.

He froze, his muscles locked. Turning slowly, he scanned the battlefield for any sign of an anomaly.

And then he saw it.

A figure standing at the far end of the bloodied street, untouched by the carnage, the movement of their cloak shifting with every breeze.

The head was shrouded in shadow beneath a hood, but the sharp single glint of steel stood out against their side.

"Kael Shadowborne," the figure called out, voice steady and cold.

"You fight like a man with nothing left to lose. But tell me, how much blood are you willing to spill before you realize the truth?"

Kael clutched his daggers harder. "Who are you?"

The figure stepped forward. "Someone who knows your struggle. Someone who understands what it means to question the path laid before you."

Kael's jaw locked. "You speak as if you know me. But I see only another enemy."

"Perhaps." The figure drew a sword forth; its polished surface was radiant under the burning sky.

"Or perhaps I am the only one who can show you what the Shadowborne have kept hidden from you."

Kael hesitated. The carnage around him, the blood on his hands it was all leading to something, but he didn't yet know what. He had spent his life following orders, and now, for the first time, he was truly free.

But freedom came with uncertainty.

He shifted suddenly, his distance covered in a deadly span. Kael barely had time to parry the first blow, his arms screaming in agony from the impact. This was no common soldier. Their technique was refined, each movement fluid, each strike meant to test his defenses.

Kael gritted his teeth. If this were another test, he would not fail.

Blades clashed, sparks flying between them as they danced through the ruined streets.

The fire raged, casting eerie shadows across their duel. Kael fought with every ounce of skill he possessed, but so did his opponent.

Then, a misstep.

Kael's foot slipped on the blood-slicked ground, and in that instant, the figure's blade found its mark. Pain exploded through his side as steel bit into flesh. He gasped, stumbling back, his vision momentarily blurring.

His opponent did not press the attack. Instead, they lowered their sword slightly, as if waiting.

"You are not past redemption, Kael," they said, voice softer now.

"But you must choose: will you continue down this path of blood, or will you seek the truth behind the Shadowborne's lies?"

Kael swayed, blood dripping from his wound. His breath came in ragged gasps.

Then, the city bell tolled.

Reinforcements.

His opponent sheathed their blade, stepping back into the smoke. "Find me when you're ready to know what they kept from you."

Before Kael could respond, the figure vanished into the night, leaving him bleeding, exhausted, and with more questions than answers.

And as the echoes of the bells faded into the chaos, Kael realized that this night was far from over.